Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Asks ‘Babus’ to Improve Work Culture or Face Music

As the honeymoon period of the BJP government in Assam is over, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has made it clear that he means business and has asked government officials to either improve their work culture or face music. Many government departments are notorious for their ‘lahe lahe’ attitude which slows down the administrative machinery. Sonowal has particularly said that he is disturbed that there is already a murmur among the people against the slow pace of works relating to implementation of various government schemes.

‘You (bureaucrats) have to work hard because the people’s mandate for my government was for an active and accountable administration. There are reports that movement of files in different departments has slowed down and piles of files are pending, for which common people are suffering. I want you to play a crucial role for smooth movement and timely disposal of all files,’ he said in a recent meeting with the bureaucrats.

Sonowal even justified as to why the meeting with bureaucrats was being held in media glare. ‘My mantra is transparency. The people of the State have the right to know what my government is doing,’ he said, asking the officials to double the pace of execution of all welfare schemes compared to last year.